“Mr. Steinbrenner told me the story the day we were in New York for the press conference,” Howie McCann, Brian’s father, was saying on Wednesday. “He said everyone there agreed they needed a catcher, and then Gene Michael stood up and said, ‘We want McCann because he reminds me of Thurman Munson, he has that same demeanor, that same toughness.’

Call me crazy, but I feel like an organization like the Yankees may take a few more factors into account than those things before investing $85 million into a dude. If not, well, RIP: Yankees analytics department.

Either way, I look forward to all of the Yankees fans who mocked McCann for getting in dudes’ faces last season explaining to me how that fire and intensity is an asset now.